Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2003 11:13 pm PST
Post subject: Kronos/Riley "Sun Rings" at Segerstrom, 10/14/03


Terry Riley was commissioned to write "Sun Rings" for the Kronos Quartet by a whole slew of sources from NASA to NEA to various performing arts foundations and the Eclectic Orange Festival, where this performance was presented.

This was my first time attending Segerstrom Hall, and it's a really impressive venue in Costa Mesa at the Orange County Performing Arts Center. Beautiful architecture, comfortable space, and seemed to be acoustically solid, though it was hard to tell for sure because live sound reinforcement was being used: this piece incorporates recordings of sounds from outer space, which had to be balanced and placed in an integrated sonic context with the quartet (and occasionally a full chorus) with microphones and amplification.

But let me explain about the sounds from outer space...

The sun not only radiates a wide spectrum of electromagnetic waves but also ejects ionized gas particles called "plasma" -- also referred to as "solar wind." This plasma provides a medium for pressure waves to pass through it, the same as sound waves pass through gasses or liquids or solid materials. They can be caused by such things as lightning, aurora, particles trapped in planetary magnetic fields, or shock waves from planets passing through the solar wind.

As it turns out, these waves occur at frequencies that are well within the audible range of human hearing, though they are at volume levels so low that a microphone with a physical diaphram would be hard-pressed to pick them up -- they are detected instead on satellites and interplanetary probes with a normal radio receiver that detects the electrical disturbances caused in the medium consisting of electrically charged ions.

Recordings of these sounds from over 40 years of various space missions were provided to Riley, who then used them both to inspire a set of ten compositions (about an hour and a half in total duration), and to integrate the sounds into those compositions themselves. And as if that weren't enough, there was also a video projection designed to accompany the music, as well as a nice bit of lighting to set it all off in a pleasant context. A real multimedia presentation, all told.

The music itself has many recognizable characteristics of the minimalist movement that Riley inspired himself almost 40 years ago: repeating figures and phasing effects in a variety of evolving patterns. For those who are not particular fans of minimalism, the video provides a lot of interesting things to engage the attention, while fans of the music can appreciate the music on its own terms (I certainly did).

This was an impressive presentation, with high quality all around, and well worth the effort of commissioning, funding and producing. Not your run-of-the-mill music concert.